Workers Comp Lawyer Helping IBEW (Electrical Workers Union) and Non-Union Electricians
A Guide to Electrician Injuries and the Workers Compensation Claims and Settlements Available
Electricity is a critical part of society and the economy.
We rely on it for light, heat, cooling, refrigeration, transportation, and countless other things.
Electricians ensure we have access to electricity and the quality of life it provides. We would be in the dark without them.
However, securing electrical power for the community is dangerous, and electricians face countless hazards in the workplace.
This article details the dangers and injuries electricians face on the job. It explains how to develop the evidence for a potential claim or increase the settlement value of workers compensation for electricians.
Read on for a lawyer’s perspective on electrician work injury claims. Our law firm has won many workmans comp claims for electricians in Virginia and Maryland, including IBEW union member cases.
If you have questions about workers compensation or the legal options available for electricians after an occupational injury or the diagnosis of a disease, call us at (804) 251-1620 or (757) 810-5614. See why other attorneys and past clients voted us one of the country’s best workers comp law firms for claimants.
What is an Electrician?
An electrician is a tradesperson specializing in installing, maintaining, and repairing electrical wiring in homes, businesses, factories, transmission lines, lighting systems, fixtures, machinery, automobiles, ships, airplanes, and similar equipment.
How Many Electricians Work in the United States?
According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), electricians held approximately 762,600 jobs in 2022.
The BLS projects that job openings for electricians will grow faster than average over the next decade. Indeed, the BLS estimates 73,500 job openings for electricians yearly.
Electrician Categories: What is the Difference Between Electrical Wiremen and Linemen?
Electricians tend to fall into one of two categories: linemen and wiremen.
Linemen work on electrical power lines. This requires them to climb utility poles and transmission towers using ladders and bucket trucks (cherry pickers).
Electrical linemen are at increased risk of work-related injuries from working with electricity at heights and the awkward positions it creates.
For example, we negotiated a spinal fusion settlement for an electrical lineman who hurt his back and herniated a disc while swinging a hammer when on a transmission tower. The pretrial workers compensation discovery process required a review of the contract between the electrical worker’s union and the employer to prove who was responsible for providing specific safety equipment.
Similarly, we settled a head injury case for an electrician who fell from a ladder while installing wiring.
In addition, working on electric utility company systems puts linemen around higher voltages. High-voltage electrical accidents increase the risk of catastrophic injury from electric shock or electrocution (death).
Electrical wiremen, in contrast, usually work with lower voltages inside buildings. They may focus on residential, commercial, industrial, fire alarm, or control wiring. Indeed, some electricians work for theaters or film companies setting up stages.
Do not let this distinction fool you. Working with low voltage does not make a wireman’s job easier or eliminate the risk of severe injury or death.
How to Become an Electrician: Understanding the Different Levels
Electricians have three levels of certification: Apprentice, Journeyman, and Master Electrician.
Apprentice Electrician
Many electricians learn their trade through an apprenticeship (an on-the-job program with an employer, union, or contractor association). However, some electricians start by attending a technical school that teaches basic electrical information, circuitry, and safety.
Apprentices work under more experienced electricians and receive reduced compensation in exchange for the training.
An apprentice may take the Virginia electrician licensing exam after completing 8,000 hours or four years of on-the-job training. If they pass the exam, the apprentice becomes a licensed electrician.
Journeyman Electrician
You can sit for the journeyman electrician exam if you have:
- Four years of experience and 240 hours of formal training,
- Five years of experience and 160 hours of formal training,
- Six years of experience and 80 hours of formal training or
- Seven years of experience and 40 hours of formal training
Journeyman electricians often work under master electricians; however, they may complete jobs independently.
Master Electrician
Master electricians have more hours of experience and training than journeymen and have passed exams proving their electrical competency and knowledge of the National Electrical Code (NEC).
Does My Certification Level Affect My Right to Workers Compensation?
No.
The law does not distinguish between apprentice electricians, journeymen electricians, and master electricians regarding workers comp eligibility.
However, your electrician certification likely influences your pay rate and how long you have worked in this field. Both factors affect the value of workers compensation for electricians but not eligibility for coverage.
What Are an Electrician’s Job Duties?
Electricians may do the following tasks depending on their certification level and the specific job:
- Read blueprints.
- Interpret technical diagrams that show the location of circuits and outlets.
- Install lighting, control, and wiring systems.
- Inspect electrical parts, such as circuit breakers and transformers.
- Fix or replace fixtures.
- Fix or replace motors.
- Use hand and power tools and instruments, such as conduit benders, pliers, wire strippers, voltage testers, cable cutters, drills, drill bits, crimping tools, screwdrivers, hammers, saws, chisels, knockout punches, resistance testers, tape, and welding rods.
- Follow state, local, and employer rules and regulations.
- Supervise and direct fellow electricians (if you work with an electrical crew)
- Coordinate with the general contractor and subcontractors (such as forklift drivers and crane operators)
- Help other construction workers, such as heating and air conditioning technicians and elevator installers, install or repair HVAC or elevator systems.
Many of these job tasks create dangerous work conditions for electricians or force them to use potentially dangerous tools, which increases the risk of injury and the need for a workers compensation claim.
What is the Work Environment for Electricians?
Almost every building has electricity. Therefore, electricians work in environments ranging from indoors at homes, office buildings, factories, construction sites, and schools to outside and overhead on transmission lines.
Each work environment provides unique job hazards that may injure electricians on-site.
What are the Most Common Injuries for Electricians?
Electricity itself is dangerous. Indeed, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) recognizes electrical hazards as one of the “fatal four, ” the top causes of construction fatalities.
Further, electricians’ work is often physically demanding. Climbing, lifting, crouching, kneeling, and stooping are standard requirements on the job. And these postural limitations stress the body and increase the danger of injury.
Here are the most common exposure events and injuries for electricians. We have handled nearly every type of electrician injury as workers compensation lawyers for IBEW and non-union electricians:
- Electric Shock: This injury occurs when an electric current passes through or near an electrician’s body.
- Electrocution: Death due to electric current.
- Falls: An electrical shock may cause loss of muscle control, resulting in a fall and subsequent injuries. An electrician may also slip or trip due to ground conditions, debris at the work site, or needing a ladder or scissor lift to complete the job.
- Burns (learn more about all degrees of burns here): Direct contact with an electrical current or exposure to an arc blast explosion creates high temperatures that can destroy the skin and tissues underneath or cause death.
- Sprains, strains, and tears from working in awkward positions or overexertion
- Being struck by an object or equipment. For example, falling building materials may cause a spinal cord injury.
- Exposure to harmful substances, including toxic gases and asbestos (the cause of mesothelioma)
- Crush injuries or lacerations (cuts) from machinery, handheld tools, or equipment
- Commercial truck accidents may occur because semi-trucks transport equipment and materials to the job site where the electrician works.
And here are the body parts most often injured by electricians:
- Multiple body parts
- Back
- Neck (cervical spine): Electricians often have to work on their side or reach overhead to do the job, increasing the risk of neck injuries.
- Head (including concussion and post-concussion syndrome)
- Hearing loss and tinnitus (constant ear ringing) from working near hot materials or in loud areas.
- Foot fracture from a falling object on the job site
- Nerve damage from the electric shock or other injuries
The length of disability (time missed from work) varies by injury.
Some work-related injuries prevent electricians from returning to the labor market, while other electricians make a full recovery.
Does Workers Comp Cover Electrician Injuries?
Yes.
Electrical contractors and companies with three or more employees in Virginia that employ electricians must buy workers compensation insurance coverage for occupational injuries and illnesses. In the alternative, the company can meet the financial requirements to self-insure. Regardless, workers compensation covers electrician injuries if you and your employer meet the requirements for any other business type or claimant.
Available workers compensation benefits for electricians include:
- Medical treatment: Workers comp pays for all healthcare expenses for electrician injuries, including urgent care visits, hospitalizations, surgeries, prescriptions, therapy, and diagnostic imaging.
- Indemnity: Workers comp pays for wage loss related to your electrician injury, subject to marketing (job search requirements)
- Permanent disability: An electrician may recover money for any permanent impairment of the affected body part after reaching maximum medical improvement (MMI) and obtaining a percentage rating based on the AMA Guides.
- Death benefits: If a loved one died due to an electrician work injury, you may receive compensation if you depended on the deceased for support.
Six Factors Affecting the Outcome of Claims for Workers Compensation for Electricians
Many variables affect whether you win your electrician work injury claim or negotiate a reasonable settlement.
However, we have seen a pattern regarding the issues commonly arising in electrician workers compensation claims.
The evidence on these issues often drives the value of your claim:
- Pay: Your pre-injury average weekly wage influences how much you receive in temporary total, temporary partial, or permanent partial disability benefits. Electricians tend to earn high wages. According to the BLS, the median annual wage for electricians was over $60,000 in 2022, with the highest 10 percent earning more than $102,300. The higher your pre-injury wages, the higher the potential settlement value of your electrician injury claim.
- Ability (or inability) to transfer to other jobs: Many electrician injuries result in permanent restrictions that prevent a return to the electrical field. When this happens, the insurance company or third-party administrator (Sedgwick, ESIS, Gallagher Bassett, etc.) can use vocational rehabilitation to find a light-duty job position for you. However, finding a job that pays close to your pre-injury wage will be challenging because it takes years to become an electrician, and your acquired job skills may not transfer to administrative positions at lower exertional levels. This difficulty increases the value of workers compensation for electricians unable to return to their chosen careers.
- The employer’s size: Larger employers tend to have more flexibility and resources to accommodate medical work restrictions than smaller employers. However, many electricians work for small businesses or are self-employed. Indeed, many wiremen work for private employers with 25 or fewer employees. Use this fact to highlight the trouble the employer or insurer may have returned you to the workforce.
- Safety rules: Insurers love to defend that the electrician violated a safety rule; therefore, the law does not cover the claim. Use pretrial discovery to show that the employer did not have the rule in place or did not enforce the rule or that you would have suffered harm even if you followed the rule. Our attorneys have helped many electricians overcome this defense at a workers comp hearing.
- Existence of pre-existing conditions: Due to the physical nature of the job, many electricians have suffered past injuries or developed degenerative disc disease or osteoarthritis. Therefore, the insurance company may accept that you sustained an injury but argue that you exaggerate the nature and extent of the injury and disability. Do not cave. You can overcome this defense with evidence from your orthopedic surgeon.
- Who makes the claim decisions for the employer or insurer: Some insurers, such as Travelers, Liberty Mutual, and The Hartford, and TPAs like Sedgwick and ESIS are more willing to offer a reasonable settlement to an injured electrician than self-insured employers or companies with high self-insured retention amounts.
Our electrician work injury lawyers can help you navigate these issues and make the best decision for you and your family.
Does Union Status Affect My Right to Workers Compensation?
Many electricians belong to labor unions.
For example, the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) represents more than 800,000 electricians in the utilities, construction, broadcasting, manufacturing, railroad, and telecommunications industries. Indeed, we have served as workers compensation lawyers for IBEW members in Virginia and Maryland.
IBEW locals in Virginia include:
- IBEW Local 50 in Highland Springs, VA (represents employees of Dominion Energy, Monongahela Power, Craig Botetourt Electric Cooperative, and others)
- IBEW Local 80 in Norfolk, VA (covers South Hill, Emporia, Chesapeake, Virginia Beach, and the Eastern Shore)
- IBEW Local 464 in Covington, VA
- IBEW Local 666 in Richmond, VA
- IBW Local 734 in Norfolk, VA
- IBEW Local 813 in Roanoke, VA (represents many railroad workers)
- IBEW Local 1142 in Norfolk, VA
- IBEW Local 1181 in Charlottesville, VA
- IBEW Local 1340 in Newport News, VA
- IBEW Local 1434 in Richmond, VA
- IBEW Local 1737 in Manassas, VA
- IBEW Local 1950 in Waynesboro, VA
- IBEW Local 2173 in Lynchburg, VA
- IBEW Local 2240 in Windsor, VA
Your union status does not affect your right to workers compensation benefits. However, the collective bargaining agreement (CBA) governing your union and the employer may affect return-to-work and settlement decisions in your electrician work injury case.
Our workers compensation lawyers have won cases for both non-union and union (IBEW) electricians in Virginia. We know how to resolve the issues that commonly arise in electrician cases.
What is the Average Workers Compensation Settlement for Electricians?
Read our article on workers comp settlement payouts for more information on what to consider when deciding on a reasonable settlement range.
That said, electrician injury settlements are generally higher than the average workers compensation payout because many electric shock injuries cause significant, long-lasting harm, and electricians earn good money.
Can an Electrician File a Personal Injury Lawsuit for an Occupational Accident?
Maybe.
In addition to filing a workers compensation claim, an electrician (or their family) may have a tort claim for personal injury or wrongful death if someone other than the employer caused the injury. This civil action is called a third-party lawsuit.
You must usually prove each negligence element to win a civil action against a negligent third party.
Workers Comp Attorney for Electricians
If you are a member of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers or a non-union electrician injured in Virginia or Maryland, we can help.
Call (757) 810-5614 or (804) 251-1620 or fill out our online form to see if we will accept representation. With offices in Richmond and Newport News, we help injured electricians, journeymen, and electrician’s apprentices throughout Virginia.
Our attorneys have helped hundreds of injured workers and accident victims in Virginia. And we want to see you made whole after an occupational injury.
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